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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1969-09-11, Page 1Pasta in the Betty Patch subdilrision beCaine thoroughly alatMed en Mo day when word got .around that some of the neighborhood youngsters had colt `sunned a few of the bright red berries from a vine which grows commonly in their own yards, Mrs. David Caseron's chil- dren said they had eaten one or two of the berries, which, to a youngster would appear as juicy and attractive as red currants. .Mrs. Cameron learned that the plant 'front which they were pick ed is called Deadly Nightshade, • a highly poisonous member of the potato family. The family physician put in a call to the poison centre in Toronto and learned that con• sumption of 10 of the berries could prove fatal to a child and that half that many would leave a youngster pretty; sick. Symp- tops of poisoning are a thick tongue and dilated eye pupils. Mrs. Cameron „realized that the plant growing in her back yard was common to many of the properties in her neighbor- hood and set out to let other. parents know of the danger. She found in some instances that home owners were totally una- ware of the true nature of the plant and some had encouraged its growth because it bears a ra- ther attractive purple flower and its bright red berries add a note of color. The vine is. also known as belladonna, and it is an extract of the same plant which is used as a drug to purposely dilate the eyes for examination in medic; al practice. It will grow in almost any corner of the ordinary lot, often where there are uncultivated, weedy or rocky areas. Growing from a tough root system which is very difficult to' Idll, t h e nightshade spreads out as a creeping_ and cl3.rnbing`vine. The green leaves are in the shape of a trefoil --one larger leaf, about two inches long by an inch across at its base, with two considerably smaller sec- tions of leaf on either side of the larger' one, growing out from the leaf stem. The ber- ries grow in small bunches , uch as . cultivated currants do. ey remain green until Tate summer and then change to a bright red, PAMELA CAMERON, small daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Cameron, Angus Street,tr��is now well aware of the danger- ous nature of the N''�'t she is holding before the camera. It is commonly known as Deadly Nightshade and its red berries can bring death if they are eaten.—A-T Photo. ONE SECTION THIS I$Sl1a Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, .Sept. 11, 1969 Single Copy Not Over Fifteen % 11 sees possibilit fire equipment TAKE A GOOD LOOK at this sprig of Deadly Nightshade, which grows in some profusion at many points in this area. •It carries green, three -sectioned leaves and the smal! green berries on the vines turn to bright red at this time of year.. Ten or twelve of them in a child's stomach can be fatal and half that number will bring on dangerous I I I ness.--A-T Photo. OH/A-- ALONG THE MAIN DRAG By The Pedestrian By The Pedestrian ENTER TRAINING -- Janie Adams, daughter of Mr.' and Mrs. Don Adams, on Monday commenced training at the Electronic Computer Pro- gramming Institute, London. Brenda Hafermehl, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Allan°Hafermehl, entered nurses training at Wood- stock General Hospital, Mondays 0--0--0 WANT A DUCK?. - Fall bird seasons in this part of Ontario have been announc- ed. Ducks, September 27 to December 15; geese and wood- cock the same. If you prefer to get your poultry on the wing rather than from the butcher, better get the shotgun oiled. Just remember, though, the bag limit is five ducks or gen 3e and eight woodcocks. 0--0--0 ROAD JOB STARTED -- The job of reconstructing Diagonal Road was started on Monday of this week. Thepres- ent road surface and a consider- able amount of the underlying roadbed are being removed pre- paratory to a complete rebuild- ing of the street. The work is to be paid for principally by the Department of Highways before the street is turned back to the town of Wingham. 0--0--0 SCHOOL FAIR -- Fine weather prevailed yes - Surprise party for the Gerd Leggatts Parents may wonder why, if the berries are so poisonous,. it is seldom that youngsters are actually known to become ill from eating them. It can only be supposed that the flavor of the berries is unpleasant • a n d that the average youngster stops before he has eaten the five or six which would cause the pois- oning symptons. However, .as all parents.of small children know, the smaller ones seem to have less reaction to foul flav- ors and will often eat lethal 'amounts of such things as wash- ing soda, cleaning fluids or .adult dosage of drugs. As mentioned above, .the . nightshade is extremely diffi- cult to kill out. It is recom- mended, however, that as much of the vine as possible be pulled up, even though the operation may have to be repeated many • times each summer. By all means get rid of the berries be- fore they turn red, for it is usu= ally the color which attracts small children for an expert - • mental lunch. Although the plant seems particularly prevalent in the north section of the town near the river, it is known to be quite common in many other parts of the town .and countryside. Submission of a bill for $1.0. 053 for a new engine in the l9"' year-old fire truck at Monday's meeting of Wingham town cotua cil led to a discussion on the possibity of purchasing a new puntper shortly. The high replacement cost of an engine in the 1951 truck was explained by the fact that a 1951 engine could not be se- cured and a 1955 motor had to be fitted. In a letter to council Fire Chief Dave Crothers pointed out that the second truck open ated by the department is a 1937 model and cannot be ex- pected to last much longer with; out major trouble. " He suggest- ed that it might be wise to ser- iously consider the purchase of a new pumper and retirement of the present first-line ma- chine to stand-by position. Since it takes from six to. eight months to receive deli- ery of a new fire truck after the order is placed, the council decided to call a meeting soon of the district fire committee to consider the proposal. The 'district, which shares fire pro- tection• costs, includesthe tows. ships of Howick, Morris, Turn - berry and East Wawanosh, as well as the town of Wingham. The town carries a 23To share of all expenditures i" Three new firemen, whose ',dames were submitted for ap- royal, were OK'd by council full-time members of the. igade. They are Les Arm - trong, Lorne Hamilton and ydney Keable. New strength Of the brigade will be 17 per - anent status firemen and sev- en auxiliaries. COMMUNICATIONS A letter from the Ontario i1ousing Corporation stated that ;a submission on the construe- 'tion onstruc- t on of housing here is at pres- t under consideration. The ;roposal is for the erection of family housing units and 16 nior citizens' apartments. Mayor Miller said he had re- s,eived a letter from the firm, indicating that building sites on Sunset Crescent. in the former Mill Yard development, would be suitable for the housing con- ' struetion. Discussion of the proposal elicited the, informa - tion that some home owners in ;that area are already question- ing the desirability of row hous- ing in their neighborhood. Ap- Tarently they -are concerned ;about the type ortenants who would be attracted to the low - 'rental housing. A letter from the Ontario Development Corporation stat- ed that the designation of Wing - ham as a community in which About 30 friends and rela- tives gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Leggatt on Saturday evening for a sur- prise party to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Old favorites were sung and games of crokinole were played. Lloyd Hutton of Kincardine ex- tended the best wishes of the gathering and Ken Currie pre- sented Mr. and Mrs. Leggatt with a swag lamp. Those present included Mrs. William Reed, the bridesmaid 25 -years ago, Elmer Ballagh who was an usher and Jack Reav- ie, the soloist. R. ELLIOTT PASSES RNA EXAMINATIONS Reginald Elliott was success- ful in passing with honors the Ontario Registered Nursing As- sistants' examination, written at London on July 4. Mr. Elliott was tor many years on staff of the Wingham and District Hospital and lived in the Wingham and Bluevale area. He now resides with his brother, R. R. 1, Sebringville. terday for the annual Bel ave School Fair --one of the high - lights of the year in this area. The public school students presented their usual excellent line-up of exhibits. We'll have the prize list and pictures for you next week. Return to twice a month pickup Yielding to the protests of those who objected to a once - a -month pick-up of garden re- fuse, town council agreed on Monday evening, to go back to the twice -a- month schedule. Earlier this summer it was decided that the pick- up should be reduced in an effort to save time and money. The town employees have always made the rounds on the first and third Fridays of the month to rerltove the piles of cut grass, weeds and other trimmings which householders accumulate. The entire program is for the pur - pose of keepingthe town neat and tidy and has proved very effective in the past. Apparently quite a few home owners have objected to the longer interval between collec- tions on the grounds that the materials have too much time to decay in the hot weather. The free pick-ups are dis- continued at the end,of Octo- ber. I1 May instali lights *ithotd1i The subject of traffic siggais for the Josephine Street traffic artery came up for discussion at the September meeting of Wingham town council on Mon- day evening --and it is apparent. that the consensus of opinion is drawing closer to a do -it -your- . self decision. The Department of Trans - • port's letter, which was read at the meeting, agreed to . another traffic survey within the next few months and stated that if the vehicle count was sufficient- ly high, the department would pay 90°, o of the cost of install- ing the traffic lights. If, how- ever, the count did not warrant department action, the town could install the lights -at its own expense, but the depart - ment would provide a "function. . al design" for the project with- out charge. Several of the councillors were solidly of the opinion that another survey would do nothing to change the situation, since, the last one, taken within the past two years, had indicated that the total of vehicles pass- ing the main street intersections is far below the department's demand level for traffic signals. They did not believe that there has been a significant increase in the number of Vehicles using the street since the last 'official count. Councillor G. W. Cruick- shank said that vehicular traffic is not the only basis for judging the need for lights. He was of the opinion that pedestrian traf- fic and the difficulties encount- ered in an attempt to cross the street on foot is of prime im - portance. Not only do half of the town's school children need to cross the street four times daily, but older people wait endlessly for the same reason. 1953 SURVEY Councillor Bill Harris pro - duced a folder which contained the results of a survey taken as far back as 1953, and pointed out that unless the town itself takes 'some action we won't have any lights for another 16 years. He described the main. street traffic situation as "simp- ly ridiculous". Councillor Bill Walden referr- ed to the high cost of five -way lights at Josephine -John -Diagon- al corner and suggested that a sirnpler four-way installation be made at the corner of Pat- rick and i'osephine. It was his expanding or new industries might be eligible for govern- ment assistance, has been ex- tended until June, 1971.. Appli- cation for a further extension may be made at that time. Liberal provincial subsidies and loans are available under •the Equalization of Industrial Opportunities scheme, designed to encourage the establishment of more employing industries in smaller centres. STREET LIGHTS Council received a request to supply the power for a lawn light at a home in the Sunset Crescent development. Since the home fronts on Shuter St. where there are town:owned street lamps, it was decided to look at the available light be- fore making a decision. An ex- tra street light on Victoria St. near the Roman Catholic Church was approved. The Huron County Library Board pointed out in their letter that a fund of $200, the bal- ance in the local board's ac - count at the time of the county take-over, is available for lo- cal library improvements if ap- plication is made at once. Oth- erwise the money will be con- verted to the general fund. A request will be made that the money be used for repairs in the Wingham library. BACK RESOLUTION The city of St. Catharines asked support for a resolution Word from convention 8 contention that traffic signals at that point would serve at least to create breaks in the other - wise steady flow of traffic the whole length of the street, . per- mitting access by both pedes- trians and vehicles . enter ring from the side streets. Some councillors felt that the John St. corner was the only place for the lights., Final upshot of the discussion was a decision to ask for a com- petent traffic engineer to study the entire situation and to -pro- vide advice on the best way to handle the problem. Although a vote was not asked, it appear- ed that a majority of council members have reached the stage where they have despaired of department co-operation and - are ready to gofor the lights as soon as the town n can shoulder the cost. PUC's told to plan for future regional control At the September meeting of the Public Utilities Commis- sion on Thursday evening De - -Witt Miller reported briefly on the Georgian Bay sectional ga- thering of the Ontario Munici- pal Electric Association. The delegates met at Elgin House, Muskoka, last week. Mr. Mil- ler said that one of the topics under discussion was the forth- coming regionalization of utili- ties commissions. He said the precise patternof regional boards has not been set out,but that it appears likely they will, control distribution of power even in the rural areas which a r e at present served by Ontario Hydro. He added that there,was no opposition to regional commis- sions at the Muskoka meeting. It was suggested that all PUC's should explore the possibilities of regionalization and study the advantages it offers. Manager Harry Page said that new power lines trom the Minnie Street sub -station to the industrial park north of the river have been completed by Spiers Brothers Limited, of Samia and the new lines and transformers should rectify the fluctuations in power supply which have been causing inconvenience to the consumers in that area. One building permit was ex- amined and approved for hydro service. It was pointed out, • however, that the permit did which the local courncfjlors ad* mitted they did not taidetStan4. The resolution stated that .itew. legislation will be brought be' fore the Ontarip House, to deal with conf ct of interest where elected and appointed officials` are concerned and asked that the details of the law be clari- fied before it is presented to the Legislature. 'Council coni cursed. Councillor Jack Bateson said: that the contractor who started work on the re -building of Dist agonal Road on Monday. had :, asked 'whether the town could use the material removed from the roadway as fill. Several places were suggested, includ- ing Cedar Avenue, which-• runs nnorth beside the Lloyd -Truax' north plant. It was decided, however, that the. bulk of the material should be directed to the town's property at the south edge of the municipality to build up the low-lying areas along No. 4 Highway. Councillor Bennett, reporting for the finance committee, re., quested approval .of $44; 076_ in .(Please Turn to Page Nine).. not specify what water service - would be required. There was some discussion about water service to several lots on Alice Street. The own- ers will be notified that cost for the required water main will be $6. 50 per foot since there are .no building lots on the west side of the street. The new sign at the south entrance to the town on.No. 4 Highway has been erected, and it was agreed ThatAtswer,shout be connected to chis sign as well as th one at the north end. TES WILL INCREASE Chairman John Pattisonpoint- ed out the fact that wholesale rates of hydro sold to the Wing - ham commission have increased 200/0 over the past three years. So far the commission has ab- sorbed the increase, but the commissioners agreed it would not be possible to do so much longer. A modest increase in rates to consumers will have -to be made within the next few months, . -Wingham has the third low- est consumer's rate in Ontario and the discussion brought to light the factthat there has nev- et been a rate increase in the 50 years the commission . h as served the public here. In fact the rate 50 years ago was .13¢ per kilowatt and today the rate is one cent per k, w. ' Tindall Ritchie, 9l, resident 54 years Tindall Ritchie was guest of. honor at a family dinner on Sunday to mark his 91st birth- day. The party was held at the home of his son and daughter - in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Ritchie, with whom he resides. Guests who attended were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Cameron and two children of Belgrave, Mrs. Ernie Lewis and Miss Irene McKee of Wingham. Mr, and Mrs. Peter Willbee of Kitchen- er and Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Walker and Robin of Wingham called during the day to offer congratulations, Thedate of Mr. Ritchie's birthday is September 10. He was horn in Howick Township here his parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. James' Ritchie farmed. Mr. Ritchie was always fond of horses and for many y.e a r s was a drayman. He later work- ed in Brown Brothers factory, retiring about 20 years ago. , In June, 1915, he married Mary Carr of Grey Township. They moved to Wingham from Brussels right after their marri- age and he has lived here for .the past 54 years. Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie lived in Lower Wingham. T hey had one son, Stewart, whose birth- day falls on the same date as his father's, September 10. Mr. Ritchie has two grandsons, Jim and Tom, both at home. He enjoys fairly good health and during the nice weather gets outdoors each day. Until three years ago he made a daily trip to' town to visit old friends. He gets great pleasure in reminisc- ing about earlier days. Mr. Ritchie has lived with his son and daughter-in-law for the past four years. His wife died three years ago. Police roadblocks stop traffic here An air of great mystery pre, veiled' on Tuesday afternoon when provincial and local po- lice set ,up«a; roadb1oclt at intersection of ilighw.ay0 and., 86 All vehiclestravelling south were stopped and their drivers questioned. At times traffic was backed up for sever- al hundred. yards. Officers with shotguns .in hand stood back to add emphasis to the situation. The 'traffic tie-up in Wing- ham was nothing compared to the congestionon Highway 400 in the Barrie area where a lim- ilar police blockade had the ve- hicles backed up for several miles, according to daily news- paper reports. Cause of the whole opera- tion 'was disclosed many hours later when the rumor filtered out that a woman had been held by kidnappers in the Muskoka area since Sunday night until her release on Tuesday. The police, it appeared, were try- ing to trap the spects, w h o were reported to have received a $200,000 payoff from the wo- man's husband. Latest word on Wednesday morning was that the woman is the wife of a Toronto stock broker's executive and her fa- ther is a wealthy transport own- er. However, even at that date police were still withholding any official announcement on the kidnapping. Will clean, replace main street lamps At Monday evening's town council meeting a decision was made to have the fluorescent street lights on Josephine Street cleaned and to have the present bulbs replaced with new ones. Cos of the work involved will be L23. The decision came after a letter was read from the Public Utilities Commission. Council had earlier requested quotations from the PUC on the cleaning job as well as on replacement of ~the present lighting fixtures with mercury vapour lights. The estimate placed on the vapour lights was $7500 and new poles, where and if required, at an additional $7,000. ,Councillors Bennett and Al- exander, moved that the less costly program be carried out and it was agreed that the clean- ing and replacing job be done at regular intervals so that the efficiency of the fluorescent lamps be maintained at its prop- er level.